


chasing an angel's warmth

by jeien



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Holding Hands, M/M, Walking Home, boys combating the fake pockets agenda, i7xmasexchange2018, that slick glove sharing thing yeah boi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 05:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17156183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeien/pseuds/jeien
Summary: Tenten’s weird, Tamaki decides.Sometimes he’s pretty smart: like when he invited Tamaki out to pay back his long overdue taxi fare. Tamaki had expected to be greeted with twenty-one King Puddings in the neat space of Tenn’s apartment in a long overdue payment for his humble services of carting Trigger’s center around on his back. Instead, one Insanely-Giant-King-Pudding sat atop the kitchen countertop.You said you didn’t want Osaka Sougo finding out, right? So rather than take over twenty of them home, just finish the one herewas Tenn’s argument. It was very sound logic. It’s that kind of thinking that made Tamaki say to himself,Wow, Tenten’s a genius.





	chasing an angel's warmth

**Author's Note:**

> for the [i7xmasexchange](https://twitter.com/i7xmasexchange/) with my lovely recipient being [Newroyaloceans](https://twitter.com/newroyaloceans)!
> 
> ABBY!!! I'm your Secret Santa!!!! Thank you for giving me an excuse to write TamaTenn because I'd been meaning to for a while now lolol but I tried my best not to really spoil anything for you in-game so I hope you enjoy it! Merry Christmas!

_Tenten’s weird_ , Tamaki decides.

Sometimes he’s pretty smart: like when he invited Tamaki out to pay back his long overdue taxi fare. Tamaki had expected to be greeted with twenty-one King Puddings in the neat space of Tenn’s apartment in a long overdue payment for his humble services of carting Trigger’s center around on his back. Instead, one Insanely-Giant-King-Pudding sat atop the kitchen countertop. _You said you didn’t want Osaka Sougo finding out, right? So rather than take over twenty of them home, just finish the one here_ was Tenn’s argument. It was very sound logic. It’s that kind of thinking that made Tamaki say to himself, _Wow, Tenten’s a genius_.

But then Tenn gets really stupid: like right now, as they’re walking back to the Takanashi Productions dormitories. The weather forecast on the television obviously said to dress warmly due to incoming winds lowering the temperature during the nighttime. Their phone apps say likewise. So, how is it that the great professional and lauded center of one of the most famed idol groups of the generation forgot his gloves?

(By the way, he should totally get Iorin’s dessert for remembering the word ‘lauded.’)

It could’ve been much easier if the guy had just called the person who usually drives him or even shoved him in a cab—but Tenn says he’s asking for a death wish if the thought of calling Trigger’s manager on her day off crossed his mind and he’s not willing to risk someone snapping a picture of them at a main road since this was supposed to be a secret meeting that Sougo definitely doesn’t know about. Tamaki doesn’t have a death wish either.

The two of them don’t talk much on the way home and it lets Tamaki’s mind wander into the territory of who would win in a match of scary personalities like Sougo and Anesagi-san. It’s only when he catches the glimpse of Tenn subtly rubbing his hands that he says, “Why don’t you just shove them in your pockets?”

To his credit, Tenn’s voice rings as clear as a summer day and not like he’s probably dying from the cold. “These pockets are fake, actually.”

—Wait, what?

“What?” Tamaki echoes, leaning over a bit to get a closer look. “Then why does it have the pocket flaps?”

“Aesthetic,” Tenn answers, pulling up the flap for him to see. It sure doesn’t seem open, but Tamaki pokes at the place where the opening should be anyway and finds a seam instead.

 _It really is closed_ , he thinks with a scrunched face. 

“That’s so lame. I thought they only did that with girls’ clothes. Why are they doing it with guys, too?” Does that mean they’re going to start taking away pockets from guy pants, too? Would they have to start making guy purses? That business will really boom then. Maybe they’ll make a King Pudding purse, if they haven’t already. He’s honestly ready to check his phone for it when Tenn mumbles something incoherent. “Did you say something, Tenten?”

“I said it’s because this coat _is_ for women,” Tenn says, a little louder. At least loud enough to make it through the muffle of his scarf. “I unfortunately couldn’t find anything my size at the moment I needed it, so I bought it.”

Tamaki blinks.

“You know, you could’ve just told me it was, like, a designer thing and I probably would’ve believed you.”

Their faces were already dusted with a snowfall of pink from the cold, but Tenn’s face turns just a shade darker from embarrassment. In an unusual display of boyishness, he watches Trigger’s center bury his face further down into his scarf. Tamaki can’t help but think, _Wow, that’s kinda cute_. Sometimes he forgets that Tenn is Riku’s twin brother—that he’s only just a few years older than Tamaki, still just a boy at the cusp of adulthood.

(Yeah, he deserves Iorin’s dessert _and_ his afterschool snack for that one.)

He remembers an interview that he and his groupmates read together about Trigger. One of the things that had stuck out was a comment on Tenn seeming like a professional even in his personal life. It’s already hard for Tamaki to try and play the proper idol for just a few hours. Trying to be like that all the time must really suck.

The life of the previous moment fully dies back into the normal blanket of silence. They have a few blocks further until they reach the bend that leads to the dormitories. Somehow, Tamaki feels like just leaving things the way they are would be a wasted opportunity.

“Tenten,” Tamaki says, “you can wear my glove.”

“What?”

“Trust me, so gimme your hands already.”

 _Whoa, they’re freezing_ , Tamaki thinks, instinctively warming up both of Tenn’s hands like he had with his sister plenty of times in the past. He feels Tenn ready to pull away, probably just as embarrassed as when he first pointed out the coat, but Tamaki manages to slip his left glove onto his senior’s hand. It’s a little big with Tenn’s fingertips only reaching where the top knuckle is, but it fits well enough.

Tamaki beams and he says, “Okay, now we just do this and… there! Flawless.”

Tenn stares.

“Holding hands is your solution?”

“Don’t worry, Tenten. I’ve seen this in movies and shows all the time and it always works.”

“You don’t think it’s strange to be doing this?”

“No?”

“You know we’re out in public, right?”

“Literally no one walks on this street this late,” Tamaki says with a frown. He’s asking way too many questions. It’s like being interrogated by Sougo when he does something wrong and is expected to figure it all out himself. “If you don’t wanna hold hands, then just say so already.”   

Quiet slips over them again. Tenn continues to stare at where their palms are joined with a mix of hesitance and childish fascination. Neither of them make a move to let go.

“…I suppose it’s fine.”

It may just be because his expression narrowed his eyes into small crescent moons that limit his vision, but Tamaki swears that he sees Tenn blush again. His own face splits into a smile full of pride—and he can’t help but happily tug Tenn along down the street, swinging their arms gently like a lilting breeze.

(He doesn’t notice Tenn seamlessly weaving their fingers together, ready to give the excuse of “covering more surface area” but never having to use it.)

“Thanks again for the pudding,” Tamaki says once they make it close to the corner. Some of the lights were still on: namely Nagi’s, Yamato’s and the common room. He hopes Sougo went to sleep. Mostly for his own chances of survival. “Taxi fee successfully paid.”

“Maybe I’ll try it so I can see why you’re so obsessed with it,” Tenn says, tugging gently on the glove’s fingers.

“Oh, hold on.” He quickly takes his right glove off and slips it onto Tenn’s other hand before he can protest. “You’re walking all the way back, right? It’d be bad if your hands froze or something and you have to chop them off. Then you can’t do your ‘bang!’ pose.”

“But loaning them to me will leave you without them.”

Tamaki shrugs. “I can always take some from Sou-chan’s drawers.”

A certain expression crosses Tenn’s face. It’s one that he knows very well thanks to Iorin: the one that happens just before he closes his eyes and sighs _Unbelievable…_ like a seasoned parent watching over their newest five-year-old. But instead of the usual Iorin-like exasperation, Tenn’s face softens into an incredibly tiny smile. “You truly are unbelievable, Yotsuba Tamaki. I’ll be sure to return these to you next time we meet.”   

All of Tenn’s smiles are polished to perfection: the best mixes of charm and allure and innocence that can sway any heart who sees it even through the barrier of a television screen. They’re all crafted to be the final icing on the cake of his angelic image, of the industry darling who remains untouchable. But Tamaki sees a different Tenn. He sees the one who had spent an entire morning and a half making a giant pudding because he was lazy to try and find twenty-one cups from the store, the one who had bought himself doughnuts right after to treat himself after that massive achievement, the one who had jokingly whipped Tamaki with a towel to get him to help with drying the dishes. This is the Tenn who’s human—the Tenn whose hand he held on a cold evening, walking back after a comfortable time together.

“Uh, yeah,” Tamaki replies, for lack of anything else to say. “Don’t worry about it.”  

He stays at the doorstep, watching Tenn turn and walk back the way they both came. The frost is returning to his demeanor and the further he gets away from Tamaki, the more the angel forms around him. His chest sinks a little. Maybe he should have said something else before they went their separate ways, like returning the favor and being the one to invite him out next time. Maybe he could’ve said they should get those cute chocolate-iced doughnuts together.

But as his senior idol rounds the corner, their eyes meet. Tenn raises his hand, gloved in sky blue, to give a short wave and smiles before disappearing completely.    

 _That’s seriously not fair,_ Tamaki thinks as he unlocks the door and goes into the dorms.

“Welcome home, Tama,” Yamato greets when he enters the common room. “You okay? Your face is red.”

“Yeah. I just feel pretty warm.”

“Make sure you don’t get sick or else you’ll have to deal with Sou trying to nurse you back to health.”

“Yama-san, you can’t just jinx it like that!”  

It’s all normal from there. He settles down in his room before taking a shower and starting his bedtime routine. After the lights are turned off, he plays some of his mobile games until the golden time right before Sougo would catch him staying up late. He pulls the covers over his head and grabs the King Pudding plush to hold it close.

That Tenn, Tamaki decides as he drifts off to sleep with the memory of a tiny smile in his mind, is the one that’s truly, unbelievably beautiful.

**Author's Note:**

> come scream with me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/jeienb/)!


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